The day Bee Gee Robin signed an autograph at gunpoint!

KILSKEERY woman, Dwina Gibb says she intends to personally respond to the thousands of sympathy cards her family have received after her Bee Gee star husband passed away from kidney failure last month.

Mourners gathered in Oxfordshire on Friday to pay their last respects to Robin Gibb, the man who shot to fame with brothers Barry and Maurice, in the sixties and seventies.

Taking comfort from the support shown to her family from fans across the world, Dwina says she has placed each sympathy card on two tapestries in the home she shared with her husband before he fell ill.

"I'm just so grateful for all the sympathy cards and the support," she told The Impartial Reporter, "I have read every single card. Each one of them has given me some kind of peace."

Still in shock at losing Robin, Dwina said she was looking forward to spending some time at home in Ireland soon.

"Some of my fondest memories with Robin are when we were travelling the length and breadth of Ireland. He loved Donegal. We spent lots of time in Enniskillen too.

"He was actually stopped once on the road at a checkpoint during the time of the Troubles.

"This young soldier holding his gun was so excited when he realised it was Robin Gibb. He asked for his autograph. Robin laughed afterwards and said, 'That's the first time I have had to sign and autograph at gun point!'

"When we were at my mothers later, they must have followed us or found out where we were going, because Robin pulled back the curtains in the front room, and there they all were -- all the soldiers, waving!"

Some of the most precious items Dwina now owns are the sketches Robin made during his illness.

"I encouraged him to paint and draw when he was ill," she explained, "He was very good at it. And I'm so glad that I have those drawings now to hold on to."

In fact it was Dwina's own talents as an artist that first brought the couple together.

"We met through my cousin who was working in security for Robin," Dwina recalled, "My cousin was going to the airport to pick him up and Robin saw some of my drawings in the car. At the time he was looking for a new place to live and wanted to decorate the house with some of my drawings."

Robin trusted Dwina's eye for detail so much that he enlisted her help in picking out a new home for himself.

"Little did I know that I would be living there myself!" she joked.

Describing her husband as a "kind man with a beautiful nature and the voice of an angel", Dwina said she took great pride in his achievements.